Marvel's New Iron Man Won't Be Calling Herself Iron Man

In a few months, Tony Stark will no longer be the Iron Avenger. The 15-year-old tech wiz Riri Williams is taking his place as the star of Invincible Iron Man, but she's not keeping the name. Probably because a teenage girl walking around as "Iron Man" is a little weird.
Invincible Iron Man #1 cover by Stefano Caselli

As revealed by Wired this morning, Riri will be taking on a new moniker when she dons her own Iron Man suit: Ironheart. The name, according to series writer Brian Michael Bendis, was suggested by Marvel's chief creative officer Joe Quesada, after some other predictable names were tossed around:

Iron Woman seemed old fashioned to some Iron Maiden looked like a legal nightmare. And Ironheart, coined by Joe Quesada, after I told him my planned story for Riri, speaks not only to the soul of the character but to the Iron Man franchise as a whole. Tony first put on the armour to save his heart. Riri puts it on for different reasons altogether but still heart-related. When people see her story, you'll be amazed at how simple and brilliant Joe's suggestion was.

The fact that at one point Marvel was seriously considering Iron Maiden is hilarious.

We still don't know much more about Riri and her upcoming adventures as Ironheart, but we do have a slight update on Tony Stark's continued appearance in the series, thanks to Wired's reveal. Apparently the AI in Riri's suit will be based on Tony's personality, acting as her support when she takes to the skies. Makes sense considering the first picture cover for Riri's introductory art featured a hologram of Tony in the background, but still doesn't exactly tell us what the hell is going to happen to the man who used to be Iron Man after Civil War II.

The Invincible Iron Man #1 — no name change for the actual book, because legacy characters! — by Brian Michael Bendis and Stefano Caselli will be out this spring.

Having a woman called Iron Man is no weirder than having a woman called Thor. I mean, at least Iron Man is a title (kind of), while Thor is just a guys name. I found it amusing to imagine how things would play out if instead of "The Mighty Thor" his name had been "The Mighty Greg", and how being able to wield his magic hammer qualified someone else to call themselves the new Greg.

Bit harsh, but its probably gonna go the way of Sam Wilson's Captain America and either Infamous will try to pick up the slack, write Tony back in or add yet another book to the roster that purely follows Tony.

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